A courageous and clever 8-year-old girl foiled her own kidnapping at the U.S.-Mexico border Monday when she called 911 from the backseat of her dad's stolen car as her random assailant threatened to crash it.

Video obtained by KABC showed police stopping the vehicle with guns drawn as little Malaiah Cole and her 3-year-old brother were inching closer to the busy boundary line in San Diego traffic.

They were "probably less than two minutes away from actually crossing the border," a witness told the station.

Malaiah told KABC she knew the situation was dire when the woman who stole the sedan refused to stop. The plucky pigtailed girl grabbed the cell phone her dad gave her for emergencies and called for help.